Time-lock for safes and vaults.



c. A. MILLER. TIME LOOK FOR SAPES AND VAULTS. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21. 1909.

Patented May 9, 19-11. Ham's-sum 1.

INVENTOR c. A. MILLER. TIME LOCK FOR SAFBS AND VAULTS.

APPLIOATIDH FILED OCT. 21. 1909.

991,629. Patented May 9, 1911.

3 BHEETSSHBET 2.

01M TOR Q Alibmy I 0. .A. MILLER.

TIME LOCK FOR SAFES AND VAULTS. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21, 1909.

991,629. Patented May 9, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

nn/5555s INVENTOR 6 3% v m/ mas CHARLES A. MILLER, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE YALE & TOWNE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

TIME-LOCK FOR SAF'ES AND VAUL'IS.

clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in time locks for safes and vaults.

In'certain sections of the country where hold-ups or robberies are liable to occur during the day time, it is desirable to safeguard the regular time mechanismof the lock,.by means that will actuate the time. lock unlocking lever at regular intervals, say once each hour, retain the said lever in unlocked position for a stated number of minutes and then look up again. It is evident that in robberies of this character, quickness is necessary, and with the safe door guarded and locked, say eleven-twelfths of the time during the day, the chances would be largely in favor of the attempt being made at a time.

when the door was locked. I

The object of this invention is toprovide, in addition to the customary timelocks which guard a safe door ordinarily from the close of one banking day to the opening of the following banking day, an improved device whereby whendesired the safe may be kept locked all the time except at certain de sired short intervals. The customary timelock taking care of the looking at night the improved supplementary device may then go into operation so that the safe or vault may be locked during the larger portion of the day; i. e. for instance, for the whole or every hour during the day except that there may be one, two, or more minutes out of each hour when' the safe can be opened, butif the safe should not be opened during that predetermined period then the timelock would automatically lock up again. This special supplementary device may be used either in connection with the customary timelockyand arranged to operate on the locking lever of said timolock, or it may be employed in connection with said ordinary timelock but have an independent locking mechanism of its own; or, it may be em-' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 21, 1909.

Patented May 9, 1911. Serial No. 523,896.

ployed by itself separately on a door. In the deviceillustrated, both time mechanism actuate the same bolt unlocking lever which releases or sets free the bolt mechanism of the safe or vault, hence with thisparticular construction the main time mechanism is in operation during the period the supplemental time mechanism is set for operation, as well as during the period when the supplemental time mechanism is not in operation.

In the accompanying drawings, F igure. 1 is a view in plan of my improved lock. Fig.

2 is a view in plan parts being removed and I I showing particularly the motors and mecha- Fig. 3 is a view in plan of the supplemental 'time mechanism. Fig. 4 is a view in transverse vertical section of Fig. 1 and Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view, the bottom or base plate being removed.

1 represents one of the ordinary triple movement time locks, and 2 the unlocking lever, the latter being designed for connection with the bolt mechanism of the safe or vault door, and actuated by the time mecha-' nism 1 for releasing the bolt mechanism at a predetermined time in the usual and well known manner.

3 represents the supplementary mecha nism, which embodies the features of my in vention. This mechanism comprises a time mechanism consisting of two separate main springs inclosed in the casings 4 operating upon a spindle 5 carrying the dial 6, and two motors 7 which operate to actuate the unlocking lever 2, when tripped or released by the supplementary or day time mechanism. The-employment of two mainsprings in the time mechanism, and the same numher .in the motor is not essential, a plurality being employed simply asia. precautionary measure or safeguard, so that if one should fail the other or others would operate to release the bolt workmechanism at the proper time. The dial 6 makes one complete revolution in sixty minutes, and is marked off into sections, each section representing one minute and is also provided with threaded holes 6 located at five minute intervals.

8 are pins adapted to be screwed into the holes 6" in the dial and project below same, each pin being provided wit-h an enlarged head by which it may be grasped and manipulated. For the purposes of illustration opening in the plate 8 and. is normally held 'posite one of the releasing lever 15, rests by the spring 23.

this dial. is revolved by .cally located slots 24, into which the tooth l have shown the pins 8 located in two adja- 1 cent holes, thus representing an interval of l five minutes that elapses in the travel of the pins past a given point. 1

Pivotally secured to the rear face of the l outer plate 8* of the supplementary mechanism 8, is the lever 9 the lower end of i which is bent upwardly, passes through an 1n the path of the pins 8, by the spring 10. The opposite end of lever '9 is bent rearwardly toward the intermediateplate 11 ot the supplementary mechanism 3, and is provided with an enlarged end 12 having a cam slot 13 therein, in which rests the pin 14 carried by releasing lever 15. This lever 15 is pivoted to the rear face of the intermediate plate 11, and the pin 1 carried thereby at one end, passes through a hole in the intermediate plate and rests Within the cam slot in the lever 9. The opin contact with the pin 16 secured to the pawl 17, the latter being carried by a post 18 mounted at its outer end in the inter mediate plate 11, and at its rear end in the rear plate 19. The pawl is provided with a tooth 20 which moves in contact with a 21 driven by the two spring motors 7, and is normally held in contact with said flange Each motor 7 is provided with a key spindle 23 which passes through the intermediate plate 11 so as to be accessible from the front.

The flange 21, is provided with diametri- 20 of the pawl 17 drops. Then the tooth of the pawl is in either slot 24, the wheel carrying the flange is held at rest. lVhen however the pawl is pushed out of the slot by the releasing lever 15, the spring motors T are free to. rotate the wheel 21. and its shaft, 21 Secured to the latter in rear of the inner plate of the supplementary mechanism, is the disk 25 carrying a rcarwardly projecting pin 26 which latter engages one end of the lever 27 pivoted to the lock case, theopposite end of said lever resting in front of a lug 28 on the unlocking lever 2.

expiration of the five minutes, the

This unlocking lever is normally held in its locking position by a spring, hence when lever 27 is actuated as hereinafter described, it retracts lever 2 and holds it retracted tor a stated interval of time (five minutes in the construction as illustrated) and then releases it, thus permitting it to move to its projected position.

As shown in the drawings, the pins 8 in the dial are located in two adjacent holes, representing an interval of five minutes. As the supplementary or day time mechanism 3, the first pin 8 strikes the upturned end of lever 9 and turns same slightly. This movement of the lever 9 causes its cam slot i3 to move the pin 14 carried by releasing lever 15 thus forcing the latter against the pin 10 on pawl 17, and moving the tooth 20 ot the pawl 17 out of the slotit in flange 91. This disengagement ot't'he pawl and tlange, releases the motors 7 and permits the latter to actuate the shatt 21" which as before explained carries the slotted flange 21. As the first pin on dial 6 leaves the end of lever 9, the.

shaft, shifts lever 27 in a direction to retract the unlocking lever and holds same in its retracted position for the period of time represented by the distance between the pins 8. in the present instance, five minutes. At the second pin (5 coming in contact with lever 9. shifts the parts as above explained and again withdraws the tooth 20 of pawl 17 from the slot 24 in flange 21, thus permittin shaft 21".

to make another half revolution, thus restoring lever 27 to its original position and permitting the unlocking lever 2 to move back to its normal projected or locking position. This release of the bolt mechanism will occur once each hour, and for a period of five minutes at each release. The lever t) is also engaged by the pin 29 on lever 30 pivoted to the outer face of the. outer plate 8 of the supplementary mechanism 3. Th lever 30 is also spring actuated, but is designed to be moved by hand against the action of its spring so as to move lever 9 out of the path of the pins 8, a spring catch 31 being providedii'or holding lever depressed, thus disconnccting the supplementary mccl'ianism from the regular time lock 1. This condition of course is the one that will obtain at night, when it is not desired to have any periods when the safe can or will be unlocked. hen the supplementary mechanism is disconnected as above dcscribcd, the motor will be braked and restrained from acting, by the locking pin 32 carried by the spring arm 33, the latter being actuated by the lever 30, engaging lug 34 carried by said spring arm 33. This lug is located in the path of the lever 30 when the latter is moved to a position to carry lever 9 out of the path of the pins 8, and when engaged "by said lever, wlll be depressed "thereby and thus move the locking pin 32 into the path of a moving part of the motor and thus lock the latter againstmovement. By means of this lever 30, the attendant, can by slightly movingsame test his supplementary mechanism before putting it into use for. the day, which should of course bedone to see that everything is working properly, and by moving it back until it engages the spring catch, he disconnects the motors, thus leaving the bolt mechanism solely under the control of the main time lock, which is the condition the lock should be in after close of business for the day.

The main time lock mechanism may be set to unlock the lock at any predetermined time,an-d the supplemental time movement unlocks it and looks it at shorter fixed intervals during the time it is set to boreleased by the main time movement, hence .for another when the time arrives for the bolt' mechanism to be unlocked bythe main mechanism, the latter retracts the unlocking lever in the usual manner and holds it retracted until the movements are again wound up and set eriod.' It is ,evi ent that many slight changes might be resorted to in the relative air-- 'rangement of part shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention hence I would have it the exact construction and a rangement of parts shown and described, b t,

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Lettors-Patent, is

1. The combination with a main'time lock movement, and its bolt unlocking lever, of ,a .motor also connected with said unlocking lever, a sipp'lemental time movement, and means actuated at regular intervals by the supplemental time movement, for releasing the motor whereby the latter operates to retract the unlocking .le-

'ver, hold it retracted for a fixed interval,

and then release it at the end of each interval.

. i 2, The combination with a main time lock forlbolt mechanism and its unlocking lever, of; a motor connected with said unlocking lever for actuating same, a' supplemental time movement having a rotating dial, and

means actuated by projections on the dial for starting and stopping the motor at fixed intervals whereby the unlocking lever'will be actuated to release the bolt mechanism at movement having a rotating dial, pins ad- 'just-ably secured in said dial, and means ac tuated by said pins for, starting and stopping the motor at fixed intervals whereby the said unlocking lever will be actuated to I release the bolt mechanism at fixed intervals during the day.

4. The combination with a main time lock for unlocking or releasing the bolt mechanism of a safe door once for each winding of the said mechanism, of asupplemental time movement, a rotating dial actuated by the latter, and means actuated and controlled by said rotating dial for unlocking or releasing said bolt mechanism, at certain fixed intervals prior to the time the main time mechanism is set to operate said means operating to relock said bolt mechanism at the endof each interval.

5. The combination with a main time mechanism and a bolt unlocking lever ac tuated thereby, of a motor also connected to said bolt unlocking lever for actuating same, a supplemental time mechanism, a dial rotated by said time mechanism, two

pins adjustably secured to said dial, means, for holding the motor against movement, and means actuated by the-pins carried by the dial for first releasing the motor from said holding means whereby the bolt unlocking lever will be actuated to release the bolt, said lever being held in its unlocking position for the period of time represented by the distance between the pins on the dial,

whereupon the motor will be released to restore the bolt unlocking lever to its locking position, said operation occurring once at each revolution of the dial.

V 6. The combination with a main time mechanism and a bolt unlocking lever actuated thereby, of a motor also connected to said bolt unlocking lever for actuating same, a supplemental time mechanism, a dial connected to said supplemental time. mechanism and adapted to make a complete rotation once each hour, pins detachably secured to said dial, means for holding the motor against movement and means actuatedby the pins on'the dial for actuating the motor holding means, whereby the motor will be released twice during each revolution of the v dial.

7 .-The-' combination with a main time movement and a bolt unlocking lever actuated thereby, of a motor also connected to said lever for moving same to its unlocking position, a supplemental time movement for starting and stopping the motor at regular intervals, and means for disconnectingthe supplemental time movement from its motor, and for locking the motor, thus leaving the unlocking lever under the sole control of the main time movement.

'8. The combination with a main time movementfor releasing the safe bolt work once at each winding of said movement, of a supplemental time movement, a motor connected with the bolt, work releasing means and means actuated by the'supplemental 'lll 991,629

the motor at regular intervals, whereby the bolt work will be released and relocked at regular intervals prior to the time the main time mechanism may be set to unlock the bolts. 1

9. The combination with a main time lock and a bolt unlocking lever actuated thereby, of a motor connected with said bolt unlocking lever for actuating same, a supplemental time movement, a graduated dial rotated by said latter time movement and having a series of holes therein located at regular intervals apart, pins removably secured in said holes, and means actuated by the pins in the dial for starting and stopping the motor at regular and fixed intervals.

10. The combination with a main time movement for releasing the safe bolt at a predetermined time. and a bolt unlocking lever actuated by said main time movement. of a motor also connected with said unlocking lever, a supplemental time movement, means connecting the motor and supplemental time movement whereby the motor will be started and stopped to release and rclock the bolts at regular intervals, and

'll'IGflllS for disconnecting the supplementary mechanism from the bolt unlocking lever, thus leaving the latter solely under the control of the main time movement.

.11. The combination with a main time lock having a bolt unlocking lever, of a supplemental time movement coacting with the unlocking lever of the main time lock for unlocking the bolts at certain fixed intervals and for automatically relocking said bolts at the expiration of each interval, substantially as described.

12. The combination with a main time lock and bolt unlocking mechanism actuated thereby, of a supplemental time movement, means controlled thereby and engaging the unlocking mechanism for retracting and holding it retracted for certain fixed periods during the day.

13. The combination with a main time mechanism for releasing the bolt mechanism of a safe door, once at each winding, of a supplemental mechanism coupled up to the bolt mechanism releasing means of the main time lock, and adapted to move same to unlocking position at. certain fixed intervals prior to the time for Which the main time lock is set, and to permit it to return to its locking position after the expiration of each interval.

14. The combination with a main time lock mechanism for unlocking or releasing the bolt mechanism of a safe door for each winding of the said mechanism, of a supplemental time movement cooperating with. the bolt unlocking lever of the main time 'movement, for unlocking or releasing said bolt mechanism, holding it in its unlocking position and then releasing same at certain fixed intervals prior to the time the main time mechanism is set to operate.

15. The combination with a bolt releasing means, a time movement having a rotating dial, and a motor operatively connected with said bolt releasing means for actuating same, of means actuated by projections on the dial for starting and stoppingthe motor at fixed intervals whereby the bolt releasing means will be actuated to release the belt at fixed intervals during the day.

16. The combination with a bolt releasing means, a time movement having a rotating dial. pins removably mounted in said dial and projecting therefrom, and a motor operatively connected with said bolt releasing means for actuating same, of means actuated by the pins projecting from the dial for starting and stopping the motor at fixed and determinable intervals whereby the bolt releasing means will be actuated to release the belt at intervals during the day.

17. The combination with a bolt releasing means, a motor operatively connected there-' to, a time mechanism, a dial rotated by said time mechanism and two pins movably mounted in said dial and projecting there-' from, of means actuated by the pins on the dial for releasing the motor whereby the bolt releasing means will be actuated to release the bolt, said bolt releasing means being held in its releasing position for a period of time represented by the distance between the pins in the dial, whereupon the motor will be released to permit the bolt releasing means to assume its original position, said operation occurring once at each revolution of the dial. 18. In combination with releasing means for the bolt work of a safe door, of time mechanism, a motor, means operatively connccting the motor and said bolt work releasing means, and a device actuated by the time mechanism and controlling the operation of the motor whereby said releasing means will be :ictuated at intervals to release the bolt wor r.

t 19. In combination with releasing means f r the bolt wo k of a safe or vault, of time mechanism including regulating devices, and a motor controlled by said regulating devices for actuating said releasing mechanism to release the bolt work for a short period and at the end of such period permitting said releasing means to assume its locking position.

20. The combination with a bolt releasing means, a time movement and,a motor, of means actuated at regular intervals by the time movement for releasing the motor whereby the latter operates to retract the bolt releasing means, hold it retracted for a fixed interval, and then release it at the I end of each interval.v

21.-The combination with bolt releasing In testimony whereof, I have signed this means, a time movement and a motor conspecification in the presence of two subscrib- 10 nected with said releasing means, of means ing witnesses. actuated by the time movement for starting CHAS A MILLER and stopping the motor at regular intervals whereby the releasing means will be actuated Nitnesses: at regular intervals while the time movement LOUIS SOHWAB, is in operation. C. E. VAIL. 

